Today I happened to be flipping through TV channels and came across Hannity & Coles, on Fox News, in which the host was interviewing a scientist who was fired after disclosing in conversation that he didn’t believe in evolution, specifically the common ancestor theory. The host, pointed out that the job description explicitly states that they need an evolutionary mindset. The former employee responded by pointing out that the job description the host was reading was reposted after they fired him.

What I found so hilarious was the host concluded by saying that’s all we have time for, and said next, they were going to talk about a country star and his new CDs. Though I’m not surprised at all by the news media’s tendency to switch to different topics in order to cover everything who are the ones that select which stories to talk about? Why do they even bother bringing people to be interviewed when they don’t spend enough time for the person to speak out anyways? Instead of talking more about the case, and getting the facts straight, the host decides a country star and his CDs are more important?

I personally think that if TV news were ever to become extinct it would be from lack of interest in their shows. Gone is the time of national and global news report. Instead it is replaced with what appears to be such, but inserted with interviews of country star singers, a recently passed away Broadway writer, coverage of Britney Spears child custody, discussion about Paris Hilton’s stay in jail, or Lindsey Lohan’s latest car accident. Instead of increased coverage time on other parts of the world it seems that American media finds interviewing reporters in the midst of a hurricane, coughing on forest fire smoke, interviewing people rescued from the forest, or interviewing Anna Nicole’s friends and doctor will keep the American public from changing channels.

Why interview an USDA representative on updates on bad Spinach when you know there’s nothing new they can talk about? Why pose questions to the local police or sheriff’s investigation you know they can’t answer? Why throw reporters into a hurricane who can only tell you that it’s really windy and call that reporting? Why ask mine representatives if they think anyone survived, when the situation hasn’t changed- that is they can’t say yet! Instead of spending coverage time with idle conversation about what you think, and what some special consultant thinks why not just do your job and report on what you do know, or if you already did that report on something else? Why loopback video feeds of fires and a mall during a mall shooting and have a reporter do side commentary that only he cares about? Or ask pointless questions that the sheriff can’t answer?

Am I ranting? I think so. Frankly, I think the people who pick the stories for American media have a poor taste in stories, and to put it bluntly are idiots.

Thus, enters in the new age of internet news. Instead of listening to stories by people hoping to keep you on their television channel, website, or radio station internet, we now have bloggers and enterprising video productions producing something that rather than trying to catch everyone, focus on the stories and specific interests instead. If you are interested being green, stay a few seconds watching ZapRoot. Interested on stories on Iraq mainstream news took weeks before covering visit Amy Proctor’s blog. Interested on the other side of a story that news covers, drop by Michelle Malkin. Gone is the day in age of having to listen to what the news media hopes the majority of people will be interested in.

The story I mentioned above is worth discussing, but at this point in time, I just feel like poking the eye of today’s TV news media. I hope they go extinct. Personally, I think that as the internet becomes more and more pervasive in society, being accessible everywhere on everything, the static news programs from radio and television will be replaced by more dynamic news sources picked out by the individual. I think mass media’s attempt to reach the masses will always fail because the mass don’t all have the same interests. Maybe some enterprising president of one of the giant news conglomerates will see that and survive the extinction of today’s news dinosaurs.